05 Aug 2014 20:02:03
yesterday ed 033
said in reply to a post
nothing positive as yet
the board have to get themselves straight first
now that has really got me worried
forestsaint

{Ed033's Note - I'm sure everyone knows the following but, Southampton's best senior players left because they weren't paid the bonuses they were promised and weren't sure they could trust the board.

Other senior players then left because at that time they talked with those other senior players and believed:

a) With the best senior players gone, Southampton would struggle in the Premier league

b) With a perceived untrustworthy board (for not paying out promised bonuses), those senior players didn't know where they stood with the club

c) the board didn't appear to have a solid immediate future plan, meaning those senior player's were unsure of their immediate future

Southampton fans, ask yourself the following 2 questions:

1. Do the board now have a solid immediate future plan?

2. With the best senior players gone, will Southampton struggle to stay in the Premier league until they're replaced with players of similar or greater ability?

1.) 05 Aug 2014
05 Aug 2014 21:23:19
With the greatest respect Ed 033 I find your comments a little scaremongering and how do you know what you have posted to be true or is it just an opinion? The Southampton supporters are feeling a little fragile at the moment and although I would agree that your summation is probably correct do you not think a small amount of hope for the future might be a good idea. I say this because as we are writing this several deals may be about to happen. If they don't come to fruition say in the next seven days then it is time to get pretty seriously concerned. No offence meant at all, honestly.

{Ed033's Note - sorry, i thought i was spelling out the facts (not opinion) as they were at the time the best senior players left.

If over the next couple of weeks it all gets sorted, that's great. Let's wait and see.

BTW, anyone feel free to use the contact form, if you would like to be the volunteer Ed for this Southampton site.

2.) 05 Aug 2014
Maybe it wasn't the players fault for wanting to leave then. I would be totally p****d off if didn't get money that was agreed. Answer to your questions ed 1. no and 2. yes

3.) 05 Aug 2014
I tend to find when a sentence starts with the words "with the greatest respect" or "with all due respect" it's time to start gritting the teeth as the following message is likely to be the opposite.

Ed is just giving the facts (as far as are known). We've read all this stuff on here and in papers and other media outlets. Not sure why he should be getting any stick for re-iterating the facts.

We have got reason to be positive, with 5 gone and 3 replaced to a good level and new youth ready to step up our squad still looks very strong. We don't need a mass of signings, we lack in a few areas but not disastrously. A replacement for Dejan is the real issue for us after that should be all right.

4.) 06 Aug 2014
The best piece of business the board has managed is to appoint Koeman. I am hoping he becomes the manager to match his playing days and he can turn our beloved Saints into an exciting attacking expansive hardworking focused unit. worthy of the Southampton name. Right now though, it feels like a slow burning tragedy where there are no winners.

5.) 06 Aug 2014
Thanks Ed033. Good summary - reading between the lines this is what I roughly thought, but good to have it confirmed.

6.) 06 Aug 2014
If the bonuses are part of a players contract then surely the board must pay what's due or they are in breach of contract?
Also I understand that the bonuses are paid in August for the previous season and Lambert, Shaw, Lallana etc all went before August.
And finally if my company failed to pay what was owed to me as part of my contract I'd have ACAS or whoever involved straight away.

7.) 06 Aug 2014
05 Aug 2014 22:48:52
I apologise ed033 some blind faith saints fans are not ready for a dose of reality.
A few weeks into a relegation dogfight and they won't be able to ignore.
Again ed apologies we can do without losing another sane voice

8.) 06 Aug 2014
06 Aug 2014 08:50:02
thanks ed for your answer. the more I hear about saints, it seems cortese was not as good for the club as a lot of people think.
if it was all about unpaid bonuses can see why some players did what they did but could have shown a bit of loyalty at the same time.
forestsaint

{Ed033's Note - How about this for some speculation. Cortese did his best to follow what M.L. wanted, which was to commit heavily financially to the club, which meant a lot of borrowing money.

The problems started when the family members that took over from M.L. at the time, didn't want to commit financially as much as M.L. did.

Southampton fans are now seeing the result of that lower financial commitment at that time.

9.) 06 Aug 2014
Saint Dez, from what I've heard the bonuses promised were not in their contracts, they were promised these by Cortese, and it wasn't his money to give. The bonuses weren't approved by Liebherr who thought he was spending and promising away to much of her money, hence the falling out and him resigning.

10.) 06 Aug 2014
06 Aug 2014 09:48:29
Saint Dez has shown that someone is looking at this "bonus issue" with a little intelligence.

If these "bonuses" were valid does no one understand that senior players have financial/legal representatives and "trade" organisations who would very quickly resolve matters for them?

It seems the "bonuses" were so valid that this could not be done. As I have said before, sounds to me like the manager at the office party offering the blond bimbo a "bonus" if she let him have his wicked way and then she is surprised afterwards that all she receives is her P45!

Anyone who has worked for any length of time knows that they need to examine very carefully any "bonus" offers as to whether they are contractually correct, and if they don't, and they are not, it is as much their responsibility as that of the person who made the offer.

I quite understand that some players may have been peed off for failing to clarify this situation and therefore losing out, but let's not be blinded to the fact that the players that have left have all moved for huge financial gain. Are they going to admit this-no. IMO this "bonus" issue is a smokescreen. None of us have the full facts but just ask why it is that Shaw was looking for a move way before there was any concern over "bonuses". Could it just be that £100k+/week had a little to do with it?

11.) 06 Aug 2014
Thanks Ed033 useful and pragmatic post

{Ed033's Note - ok thanks